Past projects 19
Virtual Learning Student Aids
Funded Aug 11, 2020At the beginning of this school year, none of us, including the students, knew what to expect with virtual learning. As a teacher, I have learned a great deal about teaching my students how to properly use technology, as well as design and integrate activities that allow them to be fully engaged while learning from home. Some of the best resources we received this year through donors choose, was the student aid resources. The dry-erase boards have been a huge hit in giving students a place to work out math problems without wasting a lot of paper. The times have helped many of my students learn the life-skill of time management, and the other materials have provided students who do not have access to those resources with the ability to learn from home.
Many of my students were really excited about their materials when they came to pick them up. They love writing messages to me while we are in class and using them to work out problems in math. These boards have been a real hit for my students!
My students will continue to use the boards and resources to aid them in virtual learning. It is going to be a great year!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Smith
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 3 other donors.Positivity. Potential. Performance.
Funded Aug 7, 2020This year has been very unexpected as my classroom has become the virtual hub for fifth graders at our school who have chosen online learning. Although these resources have not been utilized as I had originally planned, my students and I have found creative ways to celebrate our learning and create virtual portfolios.
My students love receiving materials that they can use from home. It is not the same as being in the classroom, yet they are rocking it! Virtual learning has provided my students many opportunities to grow. They have learned MANY technological skills, time management skills, and how to manage a home/learning environment. It hasn't been easy, so donations like yours provide a sweet moment for my students.
Currently, my students are using an online portfolio to demonstrate their learning and creative energies. I believe this portfolio allows them to see where they are and where they would like to go. We cannot wait to see what the rest of this year has in store.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Smith
WATER You Reading About?
Funded May 5, 2020I want to personally thank you for contributing to this project. With the pandemic this year, we did not get to enjoy this great book as planned. I have every intension of utilizing it this year with my new group of fifth graders. We are going to read this book this spring as we enter into April. It is such a great month to discuss the earth and how water impacts the world around us. This book, A Long Walk to Water, really teaches students the importance of our natural resources as well as how much we take them for granted here in America. I believe this is a powerful resources to use to teach my kids about the global impact of our decisions.
This years "reading class" will look quiet different, as my students are learning virtually this year. It has changed the way I teach, and the way they share their thanks with you. I cannot wait to share this book and allow students to gain a new perspective from following Salva's journey.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Smith
This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Drive-In and one other donor.GLOW with Us
Funded Dec 24, 2019Thank you so much for helping fund this project for my classroom! It means a lot to my kids and my classroom to have your support! I can’t wait to surprise my kids with this awesome classroom transformation! I love boosting their excitement for learning! Thank you again for supporting our learning community!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Smith
This classroom project was brought to life by CRUNCH and one other donor.Poetry Palooza
Funded May 14, 2019I opened up the packages the week it arrived and heard a lot of "Oohs" and "Ahhs". One kid even exclaimed..."Poetry is my favorite! Can we start our poetry unit now?". This is the type of response that any teacher could hope for from her students. This is the joy that you take part in with every donation you give.
This project will be used in February when students begin reviewing figurative language. Figurative language is very difficult for some students to grasp in reading. This is why poetry is so vital...it has so much figurative language! With these books, and a collection of popular song lyrics, our classroom will take poetry by storm. Students will spend the month of February reading many mentor texts to analyze poetry styles, find figurative language, other colorful language to enhance their writing skills, and create an appreciation for the poetic arts.
This month-long project will wrap up with students creating their own poetry, which will be included in a class book for future fifth grade students to enjoy. When students see their own work in a published work, they beam with pride. I still have a poem in a book from my fifth grade year and would love to share that opportunity with my students.
Thank you again for your support of my fifth grade class. We are looking forward to using these materials to create some awesome poetry this year!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Smith
This classroom project was brought to life by Craig Newmark Philanthropies and 3 other donors.Coffee-House Our Classroom Please!
Funded Mar 21, 2019As our 2018-2019 year came to an end, I'm left with so many "thank you"s. Thank you to my kids for making it a great year. Thank you to our staff who supports us so much. Yet, my biggest thank you I reserve for you! Thank you for contributing to growth in my classroom!
My students love the "Coffee House Classroom" materials! The globe lights really set the tone for our classroom and help to create a calm reading environment! They always complained if they were't turned on. The rocking chairs and benches were game changers for our reading environment. The kids loved it when it was "their day" to use the seating for more comfortable reading!
This new school year means that this project will impact another set of new students. Please see my classroom set-up and get a feel as my students come back later this week!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Smith
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose.org Community and 5 other donors.# StickyLearning
Funded Feb 23, 2019"Thank you for your support of our latest project, #Stickycreations. We love using sticky-notes in class to record our thinking! This creates a place where we can jot down our thoughts as we read longer texts. We can then transfer this to longer writings and reflections. This helps us all to communicate as we read! Reading is so much fun" --students.
Thank you again for the impact you have had on our classroom this year. As you see above, our kids really love using "think-notes" to record their thinking. It helps them to locate pages where events happen that spark their interest. This increases engagement and greatly helps students increase their comprehension and writing abilities!
The blue caddies you provided us have helped us so much in staying organized in the classroom. As a reading teacher, I believe in high-quality conversations about reading, so my students are constantly moving around and collaborating on the books they read. These caddies help to keep our reading supplies organized for easy access throughout the day.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Smith
Projecting Hope Through Literacy
Funded Aug 23, 2018Thank you, thank you for the books! Our class has been participating in Novel studies this year and its new to me (their teacher). I absolutely loved seeing their faces when these new books arrived. We plan to do literature circles in the spring--where students will choose a book option and read it with a small group--yet many of them couldn't wait...they started grabbing their friends and the books during our daily DEAR time. I just love the excitement these new books bring to my students. Recently my students have been using the books available in my classroom to do a Point of View Literature Hunt (see picture). They dug through the books to find examples of different points of view. Then, they began writing their own stories in the four types of point of view. The kids loving using books as their reference when writing their own stories. They know to look at the first few pages, which has resulted in many growing interested in reading some of our new titles. When we read in my classroom, its all about finding the stories that make us come alive. I love heart-warming stories like The BFG and A Long Walk to Water. I believe these books teach students life-lessons that cannot be taught on the screens that seem to have overcome their generation. Books help students learn tools for solving problems and dealing with hardships they face in their own lives. I love using books to teach these social skills to my students.
In my classroom, we read and write in a lot of different ways. We complete a novel study together at least four times a year, sometimes reading as a whole class, and other times reading with a partner. Students read with different partners each day so that they can hear and practice good reading. It's a great way for students to learn from each other. We do daily independent reading and often come back together to relate our topic of study to the independent books that we choose. I enjoy teaching them strategies that they can use with any type of text. We write a lot in our reading journals to reflect on our reading and learn how to think more deeply about the stories we encounter. It's so much fun to go on an adventure in different books.
One of my students actually wanted to read a challenging book. He choose The Hunger Games and asked if I would read with him a couple of times a week. As I spent the first couple of days with him, I realized the book was more challenging than we would be able to handle together. I decided to find the audio for him and then partner him with an advanced reader who could read with him when I was unable to. This began a friendship between the two students and they are now reading other books with each other. It was so much fun to see it work out so well and I can't wait to see what happens next!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Smith
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 4 other donors.Endeavor Hour: Kids on a Mission
Funded Aug 14, 2018Thank you for investing in my kids! They absolutely love to come in to the classroom now and explore with Endeavor Hour. I keep adding more and more types of activities. They are so engaged and ready for the day! One of my students in particular was so excited about the engineering game that went with the i-pad. He has loved getting to create and explore with this activity and build his own video game.
When my students first saw the boxes, they kept asking, "please, can we open them". We had talked a lot about endeavor hour and my kids were excited to use their creativity. One of my students loves to write and enjoyed using the story cubes to write stories. I believe she is even working on a chapter book now!
As we have explored with our endeavor hour activities, the kids love to add new things. Many have brought critical thinking games from home to share with others in the classroom. We are also using our endeavor hour activities in writing, reading, and in a new project coming up that incorporates STEAM into our literacy lessons. The kids are really looking forward to using these items in their writing.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Smith
This classroom project was brought to life by Craig Newmark Philanthropies and 3 other donors.